And The Good News Is...

I ran across several items of the Good News variety in my web wanderings since last we communed in these pages.  First up was the announcement by the American Foundation for Equal Rights that with the addition of New Jersey to the Marriage Equality family, 33% of all Americans now live in areas with Marriage Equality as illustrated by the following info-graphics:

 

Also in the Marriage Equality column is the new poll in Illinois which shows that 54% of their citizens now support Marriage Equality while only 39% oppose.  This is especially Good News as the new legislative session in Illinois begins today with Marriage Equality on the docket for this session.  

Then there was the announcement yesterday by Credit Suisse that it has produced an LGBT Equality Index and a Portfolio to go along with it.  This excerpt from the Credit Suisse press release (via the Wall Street Journal) explains the criteria for inclusion in the index: "The Credit Suisse LGBT Equality Index(TM) is a capitalization-weighted equity index that measures the performance of US companies recognized for supporting and promoting equality for members of the LGBT community. Index inclusion requires a score of 80 or above on the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index (CEI.) The HRC Corporate Equality Index is the national benchmark for corporate policies and practices related to LGBT employees." 

 Ashley Kindergan of the Financialist gives some insight into the portfolio saying "To design the product, Nicole Douillet, a trader at Credit Suisse who is also the co-chair of the LGBT Network, first put together a market capitalization-weighted index of LGBT-friendly companies based on the HRC’s corporate ranking. In its current iteration, the non-tradable Credit Suisse LGBT Equality Index consists of about 200 companies with a score of 80 or above on the HRC’s Corporate Equality scorecard. All but a few are in the S&P 500. 

The next step was to create an investable, optimized instrument. To that end, Credit Suisse’s HOLT team—which evaluates individual companies for clients ranging from hedge funds to wealth managers—selected from a list of LGBT-friendly companies with a score of 80 or above the stocks that they believe are good investment ideas based on more traditional measures."

Just to illustrate that there is still hope for political sanity to break out, even in such a Republican stronghold as Texas, comes this news out of Bexar County where Judge Carlo Key, who is running for re-election in 2014, ditched the Republican Party for the Democratic Party.  In his first campaign video Judge Key explains his reasoning behind the switch.  The money shot from the video is the crux of his decision: 

"I cannot tolerate a political party that demeans Texans based on their sexual orientation, the color of their skin or their economic status. I will not be a member of a party in which hate speech elevates candidates for higher office rather than disqualifying them. I cannot place my name on the ballot for a political party that is proud to destroy the lives of hundreds of thousands of federal workers over the vain attempt to repeal a law that will provide health care to millions of people throughout our country."

You can read the transcript and/or watch the video over at The New Civil Rights website.  Bexar County is heavily Hispanic and I think Judge Key's decision to switch parties will play well with his constituents leading to his victory at the polls come November 2014.  Now if we could get more people like Judge Key into Texas state and local offices, we might be able to bring Texas out of the 18th century into the 21st.

Now for your Musical Moment for today, I was in the mood for some music for the bassoon.  So I am reprising this play list from about a year ago which showcases the Bassoon as a Solo instrument. Starting with the duet Sonata for Bassoon and Piano by Camille Saint-Saens performed by Jozef Makarovic on Bassoon and Jana Nakovska on Piano. Up next is Sonata for Bassoon and Cello by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart performed by Etienne Boudreault and Henrik Brendstrup at the 13th Esbjerg International Chamber Music Festival 2011. Then we have the Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra by Gioachino Rossini performed by Carlos Tarancon Mateo accompanied by the Orchestra Lira Numantina conducted by Enrique Garcia Asensio at the Soriano Autumn Music Festival, followed by the Concerto for Two Bassoons by Johann Baptist Vanhal performed by Christian Eberle and Glen West accompanied by the Newburgh Symphony Orchestra. Concluding this play list is the Grand Concerto for Bassoon by Johann Nepomuk Hummel in a 1986 performance by the Stavanger Radio Orchestra conducted by Frank Shipway featuring Robert Ronnes on Solo Bassoon.

Finally for today, while I have been enjoying this Fall's cooler temperatures and the relief from the often times oppressive Texas summer heat, I thought it might be nice to remind you and me both that somewhere in world it is still warm and sunny.  To that end I put together this little collection of Sexy Studs in Swimwear frolicking about the beaches, pools and photo studios of the world for your visual appreciation.  Thanks for sharing part of  your day with me, see you again on the morrow.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!